Opening Act
by TheThunderbirdRising
Summary: The rock band The White Fang are finally hitting the big times. But when bassist Blake Belladonna meets a red haired fan, she finds more than just fame...until her past comes back to haunt her. [T for language. Band AU]
Blake nervously fiddled with the tuning on her bass. She watched form the wings as the crew finished setting up the equipment in front of the restless crowd. Her heart started beating faster as one of the mics squealed to life.

"How you all doing tonight?" called a voice. The crowd cheered back a response. Blake jumped slightly as a hand rested on her shoulder.

"Whoa! Didn't mean to startle you." Blake looked up, past the bare, well-muscled chest of her lead singer, Sun, and towards his scraggly blond hair and bright blue eyes. "You ready for tonight?"

"I think so, yeah."

"Oh my god, you guys. We're about to open for the Achieve Men, only the coolest band this side of Remnant! So exciting!" Neon bounced up and down in place, her pink hair flying all around her head as she waved her drumstick wildly. "Can you believe it?!"

"I can now that you've said it fifteen times." The final member of their group spoke up, brushing her long brown hair out of her eyes.

"Hey, Velvs, I-" Neon's retort was cut off by a man's voice yelling,

"Our opening act, The White Fang!"

"Time to go." Velvet grabbed her guitar strap and slung it around as she spoke. "Good show everyone." The four of them strode out onto the stage, taking their positions. Blake's mind was in a haze as Sun grabbed a mike and ran up to the edge of the stage, yelling something at the crowd. The bright lights were almost blinding, but Blake knew what to do as Sun looked back at them, and they launched into their opening number, From Shadows.

* * *

"C'mon, we gotta move," Sun called, holding the door open to let some of the sound guys through. "The Achieve Men are gonna get swarmed by fans, and we have a chance to grab the good seats on the bus for a change." The show had gone about as well as could be expected, as a relatively unknown opening act for a massively more popular band. At least Neon hadn't hit anyone with her sticks this time. Hefting their instruments, the White Fang headed out towards the bus. From around the corner of the building, Blake could hear the crowd screaming at the other backstage exit. As popular as the Achieve Men were, they could barely go anywhere without being asked for autographs. It famously took them hours to leave their own shows, the volume of fans were so dense. Of course, Sun, Blake, Neon and Velvet would make it to the tour bus, unhindered as always.

"Um. Uh, excuse me? Y-you're the White Fang right?" The four of them stopped in their tracks and turned to look at who had spoken. Standing near the exit to the building was a small girl, who looked to be a few years younger than Blake herself. She was wearing an oversized red hoodie and black leggings. Her hair was black and cut short, with bright red highlights running through it. A pair of rose patterned headphones hung around her neck. "Can I- Can I get your autographs?" The girl spoke quickly, then blushed as red as her hood, and stared furiously at the ground. The four bandmates stared at each other for a moment.

"Um, obviously! Anything for a fan! It's totes awesome that you want our autographs!" Neon shouted exuberantly. The girl shoved a sharpie marker and one of their set lists that she must have grabbed from the stage at the hyperactive drummer. The four of them passed around the paper and scribbled their names on it. Velvet had to poke Sun with the Sharpie several times before he would take his turn. He still looked slightly in shock at being sought out by a fan. Blake was the last to sign, and as she handed the autographed paper back to the girl, their hands brushed together. The girl blushed even brighter, and jerked the set list back.

"Is that a stingray?" She said suddenly.

"Um, come again?" Blake looked down at the younger girl, confused.

"Your bass. It's a Music Man Stingray, isn't it? It's one of my favorites." She looked up and met Blake's eyes suddenly. "I play the bass good as you of fill you used during Divide was so cool!Did you come up with it yourself?I have a Rouge Series II bass that I play.I had to get it used of did you learn to get so good?" The words all came out in a rush, spilling over each other. Blake couldn't help giggling.

"Thank you. You just have to keep practicing to get better. What's your name by the way? Are you here on your own, or are you with someone?"

"Oh, I'm here with my sister. She's off with everyone else mobbing the Achieve Men though. And I'm Ruby Rose."

"Well, Ruby Rose, would you like to try out my bass?" Ruby gasped dramatically.

"Would you really?" Sun frowned at Blake.

"We should really get to the bus, Blake."

"Oh, we'll be fine. It'll be an hour at least before the Achieve Men are ready able to get away. You three go to the bus. I'll stay here. You wouldn't want me to blow off the one fan who sought us out at this concert would you?" Sun sighed.

"Alright. Everyone else start packing up the bus."

"You're just upset she has more eyes for Blake than for your abs," muttered Velvet.

"Shut up, Velvs."

As the other walked away, Blake kneeled down and popped open the lid of her bass, and picked up the black and white instrument. She carefully handed it to Ruby. "Alright. Let's see what you can do." Tongue stuck between her teeth in concentration, the girl started to pluck the strings.

After she finished the bass line, Blake nodded approvingly. "You're better than you give yourself credit for. You've got the stuff to make it big someday."

"You really think so?' Ruby's face had flushed again at the compliment.

"Sure. Your technique is almost flawless. You just have to work on your skills more." Time passed as Blake and Ruby continued to talk. It felt more like Blake was talking to a friend instead of a fan. Ruby, as it turned out, was indeed two years younger than Blake, but she seemed mature beyond her years. Just like Blake, she idolized John Entwistle as her inspiration for the bass. They both loved reading in their spare time as well, and they spent several minutes comparing favorite fantasy authors. It was hard for Blake to believe that they had only met an hour ago.

The yelling of the crowd seemed to have quieted in the hour since Blake and Ruby started talking. The Achieve Men were probably going to be coming to the bus soon. Suddenly, Blake got an idea. "Hey Ruby. You know, I think we still have some backstage passes for tomorrow night's show. It's only a couple hours away from here. I'm sure I can get them for you and your sister if you can make it." Ruby's eyes grew wide, and she threw her arms around Blake, wrapping her in a tight hug. Now it was Blake's turn to blush, heat spreading from wherever Ruby touched her.

"Oh would you? Thank you thank you thank you!" For some reason, Blake felt vaguely disappointed when Ruby untangled herself from Blake and looked up. "Oh hey, my sister is on her way over. The band must be done signing things."

"Cool. I'll go get the passes for the two of you." Blake headed over to the bus, throwing her bass in with the other instruments. "Hey Pete," she called out. "We still have those backstage passes for the show?" Their manager, Pete, stuck his head out of one of the side rooms.

"Yeah. Got 'em right here. Didn't sell." His mustache waggled as he talked.

"Can I get two of them? I want to give them as a gift to some friends."

"Knock yourself out. Just gonna go to waste otherwise." Grabbing the passes, Blake hurried back out of the bus.

"Hey, Ruby I got-" Blake's words died in her throat as she saw absolutely the last person she wanted to standing next to the small red head.

"Hello Blake," said Yang Xiao Long evenly. "Nice night isn't it?"

"I, uh. Um. Yang, I- Ruby, didn't you say this was your sister?"

"She's my half-sister, yeah." Ruby said, looking back and forth between the two of them, obviously confused. Blake tore her eyes away from Yang and looked over to Ruby, shoving the slips of paper into her hand.

"Here are the passes. I've got to get to the bus. See you tomorrow." Blake practically sprinted back to the safety of the bus, and sunk into one of the seats. Her heart was pounding wildly. Why her? Of all the people to turn up after the show, it had to be _her_ sister. Of all the lousy coincidences…

"You okay Blake? You look like you've seen a ghost." Sun sat down in the seat next to her, a shirt thrown on over his bare chest for once. "You sure got out of there fast once Little Red's sister showed up."

"I'm fine. It's just…her sister, the blonde one. We dated in college for a while before I joined the band. It didn't exactly end well."

"Ah. Say no more. Relationship troubles are something I am well and truly familiar with. Hella bad luck, her showing up though. What are the chances, right?"

"Yeah well that's just the way things seem to go with me and her. I'm just gonna hide out in here until tomorrow's show. Where she's probably gonna be again. Fuck my life."

"She looks like a total loser anyway, Blake," Neon said, passing by. "She needs a diet if you ask me." Blake sighed heavily.

"Thanks Neon."

* * *

The next night, Ruby was let in by security, and greeted Blake with another enormous hug, which Blake happily returned, feeling that same rush of heat. "Yang said she's gonna show up later. It's so funny that the two of you went to college together. It's a small world, huh?"

During the show, Blake couldn't help but keep looking over to the side of the stage where Ruby was sitting and smiling as Ruby would always give her a big thumbs up. Her heart started fluttering wildly whenever she looked over, like it hadn't had since…

* * *

After they had played their set, and the two of them were relaxing in the green room, Ruby excused herself to go to the bathroom. Blake sat in silence for a moment, and then the door opened to reveal a tall blonde. "I watched the show from the crowd. You play good."

"Yang, I-"

"So I guess you made the right choice, then. Now you're touring with the Achieve Men. You've hit the big times. Didn't expect that when you ran off."

"Yang, I-"

"You RAN, Blake! I went home for the weekend, and when I came back, you had left college and run off to join a fucking band! All I had was a note! No call, not even a text! Just a piece of paper left on my bed!" Yang was yelling now, but there were tears in her eyes.

"I tried Yang! I couldn't reach you. This was my one chance! If I had waited for you to come back, they would have found someone else. You know this was always my dream! And if you cared so much, why didn't you try to find me? Or contact me? After I left, you just gave up, didn't you?"

"Well it looks like I shouldn't have bothered, should I? You've already found someone else! I've seen the way my sister looks at you. And the way you look back at her."

"Ruby? It's not like that Yang! We barely even-"

"Oh, don't play dumb! I've spent enough time with both of you to know a crush when I see one." _Does Ruby really have a crush on me?_ Blake thought. _Do I really have a crush on Ruby?_ This wasn't the time think this through now.

"Why do you even care? I left you remember? Haven't we been done for years?" Yang stared at her incredulously for a moment.

"You idiot," she said, her voice cracking, "Just because you left doesn't mean I ever stopped loving you." She started furiously wiping away the tears from her eyes

"Oh Yang…" Blake grabbed Yang and drew her into a deep kiss. Her lips were warm and familiar, tasting slightly of salt. Blake pulled out of the kiss after several seconds. "I'm so so sorry, Yang. I didn't want to hurt you, you know I didn't. But I had to take this chance. There was nothing else I could have done."

"Blake…" Yang started to respond, then stopped and stared at something over Blake's shoulder. Blake turned to see Ruby standing at the door, a dejected look on her face.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt," Ruby muttered, and turned to leave.

"Ruby, wait." Blake blurted out. Ruby turned back, a puzzled look on her face. "Yang said that you have a crush on me Ruby. Is she- Is she right?" Ruby blushed slightly.

"I mean, yeah. But that doesn't really matter now, does it? You and Yang are…"

"I think I feel the same way." The three of them froze for a moment at Blake's revelation. Ruby frowned, puzzled.

"But then…"

"Yang, remember when you dated that blue haired guy for a couple weeks our freshman year?" Realization dawned on Yang's face.

"You want to…"

"I want to."

"You want to what? Yang, Blake, what are you talking about?" Yang turned to her younger sister.

"Ruby, Blake wants to date me again. We dated through the first two years of college."

"But I also want to date you, too, Ruby."

"So you would be dating both of us?" Blake nodded

"If that's okay with you, Ruby."

"Ok with me? That sounds great"

"Really?" Yang sounded surprised. "I didn't expect you to agree so quickly."

"What's not to like? I get to date a cute bass player, and spend more time with you, sis! This way we can all be happy!" Ruby run towards the two of them and leaped up, giving Blake a quick peck on the lips, leaving behind a slight taste of strawberries. "I'm gonna be a great girlfriend! I won't mind sharing!"

Blake looked at her two girlfriends as the Achieve Men started up the first song of their set. She felt a smile creep across her face. This was going to be a fun tour.

* * *

 _ **AN: As always, praise/criticism is appreciated. This story is also known as 'TheThunderbirdRising desperately pretends to know anything about the bass.'**_


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